Ministry Team Training

There are two different ways to pray for healing and to see results. You can pray from God's anointing to heal. Or you can pray from Jesus' authority to heal. And you can see the same results either way.

ANOINTING TO HEAL THE SICK

There are times when God releases an incredible healing anointing over a meeting. When that happens, then it really does not matter how you pray, you will see results because God has decided He is going to heal people no matter what. If you are present at the meeting and you begin to pray for people, they will be healed.

It is incredibly fun to pray in those types of situations. When God anoints, it is wonderful. Healings are instant and deliverances are fast and easy. I love it when God does that.

I remember one time in Brazil when I served on a ministry team and God released this type of anointing over the meeting. I would just barely begin to pray for a person and one of two things would happen. Either the power of God would hit them and they would have some physical manifestation (such as shaking or fly backwards as though pushed and land on the ground). When they got up or stopped shaking, they were healed. The other thing that happened was that I would barely begin to pray and they would stop me to report that they were healed. The pain left instantly. Blind eyes and deaf ears opened instantly. It was incredible and I loved it.

In fact, I wish it could be like that every time I pray, but most of the time, it is not. So if you are fortunate enough to serve on a ministry team when that type of anointing is present, capitalize on it and have fun. God is healing people in the meeting. So do what you see the Father doing -- pray for people and see them get healed.

There are a few ministers who seem to carry that type of anointing on most/all of their meetings; I think of the big name healing evangelists like Benny Hinn, Reinhart Bonkee, etc. If you go to one of their outreach meetings, the anointing to heal always seems to be present. Healings are fast and easy. Not everyone is healed, but many are. Many blind eyes see, many deaf ears hear and many crippled people walk. That may have something to do with the fivefold gift of healing. It is a wonderful thing and I wish that I had it myself. But that type of gift is not given to all of us or even to most of us.

I really want that type of anointing, but I don't have it on a regular basis. There are times when God sends that awesome healing anointing on a meeting that I am leading, but it is the exception, not the general rule.

AUTHORITY TO HEAL THE SICK

Here is the good news, we can heal the sick and deliver people from demonic spirits even when "the anointing" is not present. Jesus has given us His authority and He expects us to use it. That authority enables us to pray for the sick and see them healed. That authority enables us to cast out demons. It is not as fast and easy to do these things when the anointing is not present. We have to exercise our authority in Christ instead of "floating" on the anointing. But we can see the same exact results.

Why?

Because Jesus expects us to do the same works He did. He told us so in John 14:12-14: "12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it."

Jesus has all authority and He has given it to us. Let's look at a couple of passages that prove Jesus has this authority. First, Jesus said that He had it in Matt. 28:18, "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.'" All is pretty inclusive, isn't it. That means He has authority to judge us, authority to forgive our sins, authority over nature and demons, and authority to heal disease. There is nothing that He does not have authority to do.

One time Jesus used healing to prove that He had authority to forgive sin. We see it in Matt. 9:5-7, "'5For which is easier, to say, "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say, "Arise and walk?" 6But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins' -- then He said to the paralytic, 'Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.' 7And he arose and departed to his house."

And Jesus has given that same authority to those who are His witnesses, to those who are called by His name. First He gave it to the twelve disciples. Look at Matt 10:1. "And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease."

Some people get encouraged by that verse. Others look at it and say, "But only twelve of Jesus' followers got that type of anointing, which shows that it is not for everyone. Those twelve must have been the equivalent of the 'super saints' and 'big name' ministers of today. I don't think that this applies to me or my life."

But guess what? Jesus gave that same authority to a larger group of His followers and it worked for them as well. We see this in Luke 10. Verse 1 tells us, "After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go." He gave them instructions on what to do and verse 9 tells us, "And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'" So the 70 went out and used the authority that Jesus had given them. They came back very excited because it worked. People were healed and demons were cast out when they operated in Jesus' authority (Luke 10:17-24).

First, Jesus gave His authority to heal to the 12 disciples, then He expanded it to another 70 of His followers. But He did not stop there. He has given it to each of His disciples through all generations. Look at Mark 16:15-18, the Great Commission. It says, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

And Matthew 28:19-20 records a bit more of what Jesus said regarding the great commission. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." And one of the things Jesus commanded us to do was to heal the sick and cast out demons. Take one more look at John 14:12-14. Jesus tells us that we are given authority to do whatever things He did and work the same works Jesus did. Jesus healed the sick, didn't He? So John 14:12-14 tells us that we can heal the sick too.

But verse 15 gives the condition for moving in this healing authority. It says, "If you love Me, you will obey Me." So there is a tie between moving in Jesus power and authority and in a lifestyle of obedience to Him, e.g., being His disciple. In other words, if you are Jesus' disciple, you are to be healing the sick. Authority to heal goes right along with authority to share the good news of what Jesus did for us. It is for all believers.

THE BASIS OF OUR AUTHORITY IN CHRIST

This authority is not based on us. It is not based on our holiness, it is not based on our ability or our anointing. It is based on what Jesus did on Calvary. This authority is given to all of Jesus' followers. So sickness and disease and demons have to obey us when we exercise the authority that Jesus gave us to do what the Father is doing.

However, we have to grow in our authority. So start with smaller things and as you see God heal those, your faith and confidence in God grows, and you can work up to bigger things.

God uses healing to win the lost (a sign of the truth of the Gospel), so He loves to heal people to prove that His message is true. We can especially expect to see God heal the sick as we exercise His authority over disease at outreach meetings.